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Background

Droman Crime Solutions Ltd is a collective of Cyber Security specialists covering a range of backgrounds including Police, Defence, Academia, Government, Industry and Business Systems.

The company was set up in Scotland in January 2015 with a mission to use technology to deliver education and raise awareness to areas like cybercrime.

Considering the rapidly changing nature of technology, the company was looking to develop a prototype demonstrator of cyber security training for police officers through games-based learning instead of a traditional classroom-based training.

Challenge

Cybercrime continues to be one of the fastest growing areas of crime in the UK and upskilling police officers in how to respond to and prevent cyber-crime is vital to ensure that Scotland continues to be a safe place to live and do business.

The company was lacking the academic and technical expertise to develop a working demonstrator using game technology and provide evaluation of technology informed learning and was seeking an academic partner to create and develop this new learning tool.

They were looking to create a web based solution that can be easily accessible on a tablet, smartphone or desktop computer to allow flexible learning schedule and can be easily and quickly updated to reflect changes in technology.

Solution

Thanks to the funding from the Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher, administered by Interface, Droman Crime Solutions partnered with Abertay University and Police Scotland to deliver this new game-based solution to combat cybercrime.

Abertay University has an internationally recognised expertise and reputation as the UK’s leading university in computer games education and creative arts.  It combines the three essentials for the partner to deliver this prototype: a highly technical domain (cyber security), a state-of-the-art delivery medium (serious gaming) and the assessment of learning required to assess the impact of this technology.

Benefits:

This project will enable a cross-disciplinary co-operation which will serve as a platform to further projects and research in areas of serious games and cyber security.

The Scottish economy will benefit through the transfer of knowledge from a Scottish university to a Scottish business.

Upskilling the Police Service of Scotland in how to respond to and prevent incidents of cyber-crime will lead to Scotland being a safer place to do business and ultimately enable a more resilient Scottish economy.  

Paddy Tomkins, chairman of Droman Crime Solutions, said: 

“Cybercrime continues to be a top-level threat to the UK generally and has the potential to disrupt commerce, public services and international confidence.

“Thanks to funding from the Scottish Funding Council administered by Interface, we have spent over a year working with our partners in Abertay University and Police Scotland to develop this new learning tool.

“Our innovation has the potential to ensure that communities across Scotland are served by appropriately trained, skilled and confident police officers and staff.”

Dr Iain Donald, Lecturer in Interactive Media Production at Abertay, commented:

“We specifically designed this as a game-based solution to the challenge of training thousands of police personnel who might be the first responders to an incident of cybercrime by telephone or scene visit.

“Currently, as evidenced by various inspection reports, UK criminal justice organisations experience significant difficulties in providing mainstream training to large numbers of their operational front-line staff.”

“Interface has helped Abertay bring industry to the classroom. Within the School of Arts, Media and Computer Games we’ve greatly enjoyed the diversity of project, companies and innovative solutions that have enabled us to collaborate with a wide range of Scottish Tech companies.”  

Follow on activity

The project had resulted in both new products and new jobs. Paddy Tomkins aanticipates that turnover would increase and would result in 5 new jobs. In addition, they have invested £100k into R&D.

Additional notes

The project was awarded with the 1000th Innovation Voucher by the Scottish Funding Council administered by Interface.

Droman Director Paddy Tomkins discussing how games can be used for cybersecurity training on the BBC Crimewatch Roadshow 22nd June 2017. 

Please note that Interface administers the Innovation Voucher Scheme on behalf of the Scottish Funding Council. All funding applications are reviewed on a case by case basis by the Scottish Funding Council, guidelines can be found here.

Background

Whilst two and a half times more heat is consumed than electricity globally, new developments in heat have not been the focus on considerable innovation in recent years.

Sunamp Ltd, which is based in East Lothian, was founded in 2005 by successful technology entrepreneur, Andrew Bissell, who wanted to produce an innovative solution to develop heat batteries that store energy as heat, which can be released on-demand to provide heat and hot water.  
 

Challenge

As over half the world’s population live in densely populated cities and countries there is a clear need for heat energy stores in homes to move beyond gas and for homeowners to adopt solar and heat pumps without compromising on space requirements. Therefore Andrew set out to develop a truly practical heat energy store that was much more efficient and compact than hot water tanks and physically small enough for people to easily store in their homes.

Sunamp’s innovative idea was to create heat storage systems, using Phase Change Materials (PCMs) that are capable of storing and releasing heat as they change phase. In this way excess energy, which would normally be wasted, can be stored as heat for later use. The patented, non-toxic Sunamp Heat Battery stores and provides heat to warm a building or deliver hot water. The energy is released in much the same way as a hand warmer works. 

The issue that Sunamp faced with PCMs is incongruent melting, which affects the PCMs ability to store and release heat over a long lifetime. As a consequence, this was hampering the performance in Sunamp’s heat batteries.
 

Solution

Through Interface, Sunamp was successfully matched with Colin Pulham, Professor of High-Pressure Chemistry and Head of the School of Chemistry at the University of Edinburgh, to analyse the PCMs to develop systems that store renewable energy as heat. They did this by developing additives, which would reduce the effects of any incongruent melting and, therefore, significantly improve the PCM’s heat storage properties. This initial project was funded through a Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher and although provided some early results, it was only in the close out meeting that the discussions led to further areas to be investigated. The resulting project proposal was successfully awarded an Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) Case studentship which subsequently resulted in the PhD student upon graduation joining the Sunamp team as their Materials Scientist.
 

Benefits

Since the initial partnership that Interface brokered with the University of Edinburgh in 2008, Sunamp has continued to develop their relationship with Professor Pulham and commenced a new relationship through Interface with Dr Tadhg O’Donovan, School of Engineering and Physical Sciences; Mechanical, Process and Energy Engineering at Heriot-Watt University. The value of the relationship between University of Edinburgh and Sunamp has supported career development and employment for post graduate and undergraduate students, a new area of research into phase change materials, leveraged several £100k of funding and facilitated access to facilities such as the Diamond Light Source UK facility. The collaborative partnership will be submitted as an Impact case study to the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 highlighting the significant benefits that have been realised.
 

Professor Colin Pulham stated:

Follow on Projects

Under an Energy Technology Partnership ​(ETP) student agreement two significant discoveries in relation to Sunamp have been published. Professor Pulham now has a Sunamp focussed team working within the University and some of the collaborative projects have secured EPSRC Impact accelerator and Innovate UK funding. 

In 2014 Sunamp secured a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Heriot- Watt University which aimed to integrate and optimise Heat Batteries with Solar Thermal and Solar Hybrid PV-T (Photovoltaic-Thermal) Panels to develop a competitive, on-demand heat supply solution for domestic households.

In April, 2016, Sunamp raised £3.2m for its sales and manufacturing function in its latest funding round led by an international private investor in the energy market.

“The global thermal energy storage market is expected to reach $1.8 billion by 2020 and we are excited about the potential of our product to solve a worldwide problem,” said Chief Executive, Andrew Bissell.

In August 2017 a consortia, which includes Professor Colin Pulham ​with Sunamp and Vantage Power, was awarded £250k from Innovate UK for a project that will look to develop a novel vehicle thermal management solution that addresses hybrid electric bus cabin warm up and thermal loads in stop/start and all electric modes.

In 2017, Sunamp and the University of Glasgow’s School of Engineering partnered on a £2 million project linked to clean power and heat generation from the China-UK Research and Innovation Bridges programme, a joint UK/China initiative under the Newton Fund, developing solutions for agri-food, energy, healthcare, and urbanisation.

Andrew Bissell from Sunamp and Prof Pulham from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Chemistry won the Powerful Partnership Award at the Scottish Knowledge Exchange Awards 2019. 

Sunamp signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Chinese company Trina Solar, the world’s largest solar solutions company. Trina Solar aims to jointly address the 66m Chinese homes that are heated by coal, converting instead to solar PV-powered heat pumps backed up by energy storage in Sunamp heat batteries so heat is available whenever needed. The excellent performance, quality and stability of the PCM developed early in the University of Edinburgh/Sunamp partnership was foundational to Trina selecting to work with Sunamp. There is potential for very large orders benefiting Sunamp, University of Edinburgh, the inventors and the UK and Scottish economies, and also benefiting the environment via decarbonisation and improved air quality. 

The company also secured £2.2 million in funding from Japanese energy provider Osaka Gas.

Sunamp also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Jiangsu Gomon Renewable Energy Development Co which aims to create an “innovative and unique” heat pump water heater for household use. The partnership aims to develop an innovative and unique heat pump water heater for the residential market, using Gomon heat pumps and Sunamp high energy-density, high power-density Heat Batteries.

Watch the interview with Professor Pulham and Andrew Bissell here: 

Please note that Interface administers the Innovation Voucher Scheme on behalf of the Scottish Funding Council. All funding applications are reviewed on a case-by-case basis by the Scottish Funding Council, guidelines can be found here.

Background

Founded in the early 1900’s, Bon Accord was a family-run soft drink manufacturer who distributed carbonated soft drinks to households across Scotland until the company ceased manufacturing circa 2000. Using the recognised Bon Accord name, and with a new generation at the helm, the family, led by the great, great, granddaughter of the founder, have re-branded and re-launched Bon Accord soft drinks.

Challenge

Conducting some initial research, Bon Accord was struck by the lack of Scottish all-natural, non-alcoholic drinks available on the market and were looking to fill this gap.

Solution

Interface connected Bon Accord to Food Innovation at Abertay (FIA), who has the technical expertise as well as industry and consumer knowledge to assist Bon Accord in its development of a range of premium, carbonated soft drinks.

Funded by a Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher, the FIA team undertook

Benefits

The company now has a range of three new carbonated drinks that can either be used as mixers for alcoholic drinks or be enjoyed on their own; tonic water, cloudy lemonade, and sparkling rhubarb.  It has also benefited from work undertaken by marketing students at Abertay University who helped it with market research on the rebranding of the company.

“Interface put us in contact with the Food Innovation team at Abertay University. From the outset, the team at Abertay were hugely enthusiastic about the project and their knowledge, expertise and first class facilities allowed us to develop our fantastic range of soft drinks and mixers.” said Karen Knowles, Bon Accord.

“The Bon Accord project was an interesting challenge for the FIA team.  The development of new flavour profiles using natural ingredients which also met with consumer acceptance was achieved after many recipes trials and consumer tests.  FIA was delighted to provide Bon Accord with three initial products to launch onto the market and look forward to working with it again in the future.”  Jennifer Bryson, Food Innovation @ Abertay

Please note that Interface administers the Innovation Voucher Scheme on behalf of the Scottish Funding Council. All funding applications are reviewed on a case by case basis by the Scottish Funding Council, guidelines can be found here.​

Established in 1991, Investors in People Scotland aims to help organisations and their employees make the most of their abilities.

The company vision is to help transform performance and productivity in Scotland by encouraging, enabling and recognising the use of the Investors in People methodology to improve the way in which people are led, managed and developed.
This way, organisations can become more effective, productive and competitive helping to grow the economy.

The Business Challenge:

The company was looking to commission independent research to assess the impact that Investors in People Scotland have on the range of organisations which they work with and the ways in which their activities contribute to the strategic objectives of the Scottish Government through Scotland’s Economic Strategy (2015) and the National Outcomes.

The Interface Solution:

Investors in People Scotland approached Interface directly, to seek help in finding an academic partner to undertake the research.

The Interface team worked with them to develop a project brief which then was sent on to a range of universities and research institutions across Scotland. After speaking to three eminent social science groups, the company chose to work with Andrea Glass from the Training and Employment Research Unit (TERU) at the University of Glasgow.

The Training and Employment Research Unit (TERU) is a multi-disciplinary centre for applied economic and social research, driven by a desire to offer practical solutions to the challenges faced by policy makers, practitioners, individuals and communities. This unit undertakes research and evaluation work and delivers specialist training for a wide range of clients across the UK.

The Benefits

This research focused on how and why organisations became involved with Investors in People Scotland as well as the impact and overall value it has had on the organisation.

This led to a new research opportunity reviewing the impact and value of Investors in Young People.  

Once again, thanks to Interface matchmaking service and having well-established access to all world-class academic expertise, the team completed a comprehensive search and managed to quickly identify the best academic match from across all disciplines.

Through both desk-based research and in-depth interviews, this project highlighted the market potential for Investors in Young People as well as the potential barriers to engagement and the possible routes to market through businesses and partners. This provided invaluable independent research and analysis to support future approaches to increase the reach and impact of the Investors in Young People accreditation beyond the pilot phase.

Peter Russian, Chief Executive at Investors in People Scotland, said:

“Interface provided an invaluable resource in helping us to quickly engage with high quality expertise in three of Scotland’s leading universities.  Working to a tight timescale we were able to commission a large research project which has been fundamental to confirming the value and impact of Investors in People”.

Andrea Glass, Depute Director of the Training and Employment Research Unit (TERU) added:

“Building on the very positive Year One review of Investors in Young People, TERU worked closely with Investors in People Scotland to provide an overview of youth employment policy, the youth labour market and an assessment of the employer marketplace to provide in-depth understanding of the operating context.
Drawing on TERU’s networks and expertise, the organisations that support young people to secure, sustain and progress employment were identified and assessed as potential key players in the roll out of Investors in Young People going forward.
This research offered an opportunity to build on the Training and Employment Research Unit’s (TERU) extensive portfolio of work to support the design, development and implementation of policy to address youth unemployment in Scotland.  Working closely with Investors in People Scotland was a very positive experience and allowed TERU to develop a comprehensive evidence base to help guide the future approach to increase the reach and impact of Investors in Young People”.

Design LED, founded in 2004, is a global leader in the field of LED light-guide technology and have created a unique lighting solution in the form of low weight, flexible light tiles. Light tiles are made up of integrated LEDs that form extremely thin, energy efficient, transparent panels that are modular and allow users to direct light exactly where they want it.

Challenge
In 2014 Design LED approached the Intelligent Lighting Centre at the Technology and Innovation Centre, part of the University of Strathclyde, with the aim of bringing together a small group of SMEs and academics to develop their core technology and provide an inorganic LED device technology platform which would use half the energy consumption and run at half the cost of current retail and consumer lighting. The technology involved the combination of existing Design LED technology with next generation and emerging LED devices, to enable thin, flat, flexible and uniform, sheets of light, which are highly reliable, low cost, energy efficient and highly desirable by end users.

The Intelligent Lighting Centre has established connections in the lighting technology development community and was able to identify a number of potential European partners that would be able to support Design LED’s aims and objectives.

It was decided that a more efficient means of meeting multiple prospective project partners was by attending the major industry exhibition, Light+Building, and conducting meetings there and nearby. 

The academic team were made aware of new funding streams that were specifically designed to help businesses build relationships in Europe and approached Interface for more information.

Solution
Interface was able to identify the Horizon 2020 SME Engagement Voucher as a viable funding solution which would cover the cost of engaging with potential partners in Europe. 

This funding programme is the first step of the European Funding journey; designed to support Scottish SMEs explore opportunities, with the help of Scottish Higher Education Institutes, and assist them in forming collaborative partnerships to strengthening their applications for Horizon 2020 European Funding, a €70 billion European funding programme which supports research and innovation in Europe.

Dr James Gourlay, Technical Director at Design LED said, “Applying for H2020 SME Engagement Funding could not have been easier. The academic from the Intelligent Lighting Centre, Janet Milne, is an expert in the field and took the time to meet me and understand our aims and objectives.  Janet took the lead on completing the application form, she dealt with the legal contracts including the confidentiality and intellectual property agreements and, apart from providing our company details, there was nothing for me to fill in.

“They kept me informed and involved throughout the process, providing me with a final report at the end of the project which led to an application for H2020 European Funding.  As a result of the project we have built very strong relationships with our European partners and will continue to work with them.  All in all this has been yet another excellent experience of working with academia and will be extremely beneficial to the expansion of the company.”

Outcomes
Thanks to the successful application of funding, four Design LED Products personnel representing senior management, technical, operations and product marketing were able to attend the Light+Building event in Frankfurt allowing them to meet with a number of potential project partners.

This proved to be highly successful with the objectives of the original project proposal being exceeded and three Horizon 2020 European Funding applications being submitted.

For more information on Design LED visit www.designledproducts.com

The Company

Bright Red Publishing is a multi-award winning independent publishing company which develops and produces high quality Study Guides for the new National 4, National 5, CfE Higher and Advanced Higher qualifications.  They collaborated with Edinburgh Napier University to create a unique on-line Digital Zone (www.brightredbooks.net) to further support students and teachers during a time of immense educational change in Scotland.

The Business Challenge

The company, wanting to produce the very best resources for Scottish students, was looking to support their publishing plans with on-line support across a number of subjects.  Although the company had the expertise to create and tailor the very best possible content, they did not have the experience to develop the digital strategy required to fully capitalise on the work they had done. 

The Solution

Bright Red Publishing approached Business Gateway, who referred them on to Interface.  After working with Bright Red to develop their initial brief, Interface put out an enquiry, searching through all of Scotland’s universities to find the right expertise.  Reviewing the resulting proposals from the universities, Bright Red felt that Edinburgh Napier University and, in particular, Professor Bill Buchanan, had the extensive expertise and support to get their digital project off the ground.  The collaboration was supported by a Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher, providing £5,000 to cover the cost of Professor Buchanan’s time.    

According to John MacPherson, Director of Bright Red Publishing

“Working with Interface has been a brilliant experience for Bright Red.  We have been able to access some amazing expertise and really step up our digital plans.  The creation of the Digital Zone has proved a game changer for our business and paves the way to a lot of exciting new developments.” 

The original aim of the project was to create a prototype interactive testing system.  The tests were to be developed in one subject area initially (Physics), to support the new qualifications being introduced in Scottish schools in 2013.

The project, supported by the Innovation Voucher, achieved this and delivered much more besides including:

Follow-On Activity

Building on the success of their original collaboration, Bright Red Publishing and Edinburgh Napier University applied for, and received a Follow-On Innovation Voucher for £20k, which the company matched in cash. 

The key challenge for the follow-on project was to scale-up the integration of fun elements and challenging on-line materials from within the area of Physics to a wider range of subject areas for National 5, Higher and Advanced Higher grade books, creating innovative web-based materials to reinforce textbook learning.

The ground breaking Digital Zone currently offers a broad range of on-line supporting resources to students approaching their National 5 and CfE Higher qualifications.  The content, links, videos and games integrate completely with Bright Red’s best-selling Study Guides and the pioneering on-line tests allow students to check their progress and identify problem areas.  This is an absolute first for S4 and S5 students approaching these all new qualifications.

A key part of the innovation was the development of a website which aims to reinforce teaching-focused learning, but also provide new ways of supporting student learning. The infrastructure created scales across all the books, from Maths and Computing Science to English and French, in a consistent way. The site integrates key features for each subject, such as the range of calculators for Maths and language translators for French. 

The Benefits:

Company

This project proved to be very successful.  In terms of technical innovation, the approach offered by the digital test materials offered a distinct competitive advantage to the company in the market space in which it operates. The web-based materials offer a flexible, fully user-friendly and engaging product for both students and teachers. No other provider in this market offers in depth interactive tests designed specifically for the Scottish curriculum, which are both fun and educational with full explanations associated to each answer. The digital materials also provide adaptable support and guidance for both students and teachers dealing with brand new qualifications, during a period of great change and upheaval in the Scottish education system.

The Digital Zone (www.brightredbooks.net/subjects) has now sold over one million books, has more than 100,000 registered users and has had over two and a half million tests taken. Feedback from both students and teachers has been excellent.

John MacPherson, Director of Bright Red Publishing said:

“Collaborating with Professor Buchanan on this project has been incredibly exciting.  To enhance our printed content through the Digital Zone in the way we have has had a great effect on our business.  It has also opened our eyes to many more ideas and opportunities than we might not have considered before.” 

University

The benefits to Edinburgh Napier University were the further developments of its excellent portfolio of research and industrial expertise in building the novel software architectures related to testing for educational purposes.

According to Professor Bill Buchanan:

“The impact has been massive, especially as it properly supports our children in new methods of learning, while still keeping a focus on printed material, and in integrating teacher-led approaches. Everything we learned from the project has now fed back into creating enhanced teaching environments for undergraduate and postgraduate modules. Basically it’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, which Bright Red and the University took full advantage of. To think that we help to support our children’s education, every minute of the day, is an impact that few could dream of.

“We are so proud to have worked with such an innovative and forward looking company, who significantly contributed to Scottish society, and who will have an increasing role. Seldom have I seen such amazing vision from a company, and for one who have delivered so perfectly from every single angle. For me, I’ve learnt so much, while it has also been an opportunity to put in-place academic developments which fully support a child’s education, in an on-line environment.

“For an academic team to have the opportunity to help in the foundation education for our children is a unique opportunity, which can only bring benefits to all in our country. Many new projects have spun-off from the original project, including with us leading on an EU project which creates an engaging educational environment within Cyber Security.”

Scottish Economy

By fully developing this new business strand, the company has increased revenue and been able to offer employment opportunities.  In 2014 they recruited a Sales and Marketing Consultant to implement their new digital marketing strategy and also a Publishing Assistant to work closely with Edinburgh Napier on the on-line materials.  Initial expectation in the Follow On Voucher application was for sales of Bright Red Guides to increase from £190k in 2012/13, to £300k in 2013/14 and £500k in 2014/15.  The driving presence and popularity of the Digital Zone meant that in 2013/14, revenue leapt straight to £500k and is well on target to better that figure in 2014/15.

In a broader sense, the development of the Digital Zone represents the start of an integrated print and digital offering from Bright Red that will continue for many years to come.  The company have committed to an ongoing consultancy contract with Edinburgh Napier University and hopes to work with Professor Buchanan on other future projects.  In 2017 Bright Red Publishing announced further development to the Digital Zone to incorporate GOAL (Game Of Active Learning) which is being designed in collaboration with Professor Buchanan funded through a Scottish Enterprise SMART award. 

The project has allowed Bright Red Publishing, a wholly independent Scottish company, to compete in their market on an equal footing with rivals based outside Scotland.  Once they have developed this product further, it will be easily adapted for use overseas, particularly in markets such as India, China and Africa where the Scottish Qualifications Authority is a growing presence. This will require a greater staff resource and lead to an increase in export revenue.

MacPherson concludes:

“There can be little doubt that the opportunities arising from this collaboration are many.  We feel that our work with Professor Buchanan at Edinburgh Napier has really propelled Bright Red into a different space, and has great potential to launch our brand and product well beyond the Scottish border.” 

For more information on Bright Red please visit SMEs Rule! – A Case Study in Enterprise and Innovation – a blog by Prof Bill Buchanan, Edinburgh Napier University.

Please note that Interface administers the Innovation Voucher Scheme on behalf of the Scottish Funding Council. All funding applications are reviewed on a case by case basis by the Scottish Funding Council, guidelines can be found here.

he Company

StudioLR is an award-winning design agency based in Leith, Edinburgh.

The Business Challenge

Dissatisfied with existing ‘way-finding’ products for dementia, and sensing an opportunity for a fresh and novel approach, the company wanted to access Scotland’s academic expertise to use the latest research to inform their design, ensuring an effective, as well as an attractive, finished product.

The Solution

After meeting at an industry event, Interface was able to identify extensive research expertise in the care of people with dementia at the universities of Edinburgh and Stirling, and introduced both universities to StudioLR.  After discussions with both universities, it was agreed that a collaborative approach to the project would be the best solution to provide the company with access to the most wide-ranging expertise.  A Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher, administered by Interface, was awarded to support this project.

Benefits

As a result of this successful business-academic collaboration, StudioLR developed a set of design guidelines for creating consistent signage to increase independence and wellbeing for older people and dementia patients in care homes, hospitals or other related environments.  Lucy Richards, Creative Director at StudioLR, said: 

“The collaborative process we have experienced working together with the universities of Edinburgh and Stirling on the Innovation Voucher has been both stimulating and fruitful, with exciting new thinking emerging throughout the process.  As the project builds in momentum, our purpose has become clearer and more worthwhile.”

Follow-on Activity

Following further brokerage services from Interface, StudioLR have been accepted into The Scottish Graduate School for Arts and Humanities (SGSAH) Doctoral Internship programme, which matches doctoral researchers with industry partners. The company are keen to establish research in the area of “impact and consequences of the use of complex language in everyday settings”, particularly in the Care system and across public services, i.e. in hospital and clinical settings.

The outputs from the researcher will be a report outlining key findings and recommendations on the unintended consequences and negative impact of the use of this language.

Please note that Interface administers the Innovation Voucher Scheme on behalf of the Scottish Funding Council. All funding applications are reviewed on a case by case basis by the Scottish Funding Council, guidelines can be found here.

As the internationally recognised governing body for cycle sport in Scotland, Scottish Cycling is the gateway to cycle sport for people in Scotland, with the aim of developing the sport at every level. 

Developing Mountain Biking in Scotland (DMBinS) is a project based within Scottish Cycling which is delivering the world’s first national strategy for mountain biking. The project has an overarching strategic remit to increase participation, grow tourism and develop the sport of mountain biking.

Challenge

DMBinS wanted to develop a new and innovative interactive DVD of Scottish mountain biking trails to use as a prototype product to both attract external sponsorship, and develop a full-length consumer DVD. 

Sporting Chance Initiative referred DMBinS to Interface – the knowledge connection for business – to find out what external support was available to help develop the idea. 

Solution

Interface facilitated a partnership with Glasgow Caledonian University (GCU) which led to DMBinS working with a team of academics and graduates to develop a business plan and prototype DVD to engage current and aspirational mountain bikers.  The project was awarded a £5,000 Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher.

By working with the eMotionLab at GCU – a world leader in the development and evaluation of emotionally engaging technology – DMBinS was able to utilise the lab‘s processes to ensure user engagement, and develop user-evaluation facilities which would explore the emotional engagement of products. 

The idea of the interactive DVD was developed with the output being made into an App so that it could be distributed digitally. 

Benefits

DMBinS is working with partners in both the public and private sector to to complete the development of the App. The App, based on the original project, features trails across Scotland and was available in the App Store in time for the 2014 Commonwealth Games, which mountain biking is a key event.

“We are grateful to Interface for connecting us with Glasgow Caledonian University.  It resulted in an excellent collaboration, and we now have a prototype which we can use to help attract further investment  and ultimately add value to the Scottish economy by increasing the number of visitors to Scotland to enjoy our fantastic mountain biking,” said Graeme McLean, Project Manager of DMBinS.

Please note that Interface administers the Innovation Voucher Scheme on behalf of the Scottish Funding Council. All funding applications are reviewed on a case by case basis by the Scottish Funding Council, guidelines can be found here.​

Lightbody is the UK’s leading supplier of celebration cakes to UK multiples grocery shops and supermarkets.

Based in Hamilton Lightbody employ 1,200 people, the business has two cake bakeries plus a European Sales and Marketing operation based in Rennes, France.

For over a hundred years, the company had their own chain of shops, but as the influence of the big supermarkets increased on the high street, they focused on manufacturing high value baked products to supply the retail outlets.

The Business Challenge
Each year 8.3 million tonnes of food and drink is wasted in the UK, of which nearly 800,000 tonnes is bakery waste. Variations in basic ingredients, due to seasonal conditions, and in the production process, due to environmental conditions including temperature, humidity, etc, can result in inconsistencies in product quality and shelf life.  

The company were looking for a more quantitative metric to determine the quality and longevity of their baked goods to specifically:  

The Solution
Interface – The knowledge connection for business matched Lightbody to Strathclyde University who were able to suggest Hyperspectral Imaging (HSI) as a solution. HSI cameras produce large volumes of complex data which require specialist analysis to measure the specific properties of the baked products. The University of Strathclyde’s Hyperspectral Imaging Centre is the first of its kind in the UK and was able to provide the expertise required by the company.

According to Ian Chree, Site Director, “We have built up a strong working relationship with Strathclyde University due to their wide range of expertise, enthusiasm and speed of response.”

In a previous feasibility project, Lightbody provided two different sponge cakes to Strathclyde for HSI. Initial results were positive, indicating that HSI technology could be used to quantify moisture content as well as other properties of the cakes. Due to the results, the company wanted to take this study to the next level.

With the support of Interface Food & Drink and funded through a Scottish Funding Council Innovation Voucher, the project used HSI to analyse two varieties of Lightbody sponges over a period of 40 days to assess the quality and longevity of these cakes. At the conclusion of the test, the HSI data was processed and the results were found to accurately match the results found by a taste panel.

Partnership Benefits
Use of Hyperspectral Imaging will reduce supermarket in-store wastage by quantifying the eating quality performance of sponge over its shelf life and increasing the overall life of the product. This complies directly with Lightbody’s strategy to minimise costs and expenditure through waste. Reduced supermarket waste will improve the cost efficiency of the manufacturing process through fewer production runs and lead to increased profits.

Lightbody plan to use this unique technology directly on the production line helping to produce greater consistency in its products, reduce waste and increase profits. The project has also allowed Lightbody to develop products with an even greater shelf life which is helping to attract overseas markets and increase the companies export potential.

“It has been a rewarding experience seeing our research applied in a real application. This work allows Lightbody to refine their processes in order to increase shelf life and improve consistency. A longer shelf life lets the company export into markets which are further afield.” Professor Stephen Marshall, Dept of Electronic and Electrical engineering, University of Strathclyde.

Please note that Interface administers the Innovation Voucher Scheme on behalf of the Scottish Funding Council. All funding applications are reviewed on a case by case basis by the Scottish Funding Council, guidelines can be found here.